Curated OER
Music: Off the Wall & Onto the Stage - Composing
Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class.
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The Importance of Storytelling
Students examine how African Americans escaping slavery used storytelling to communicate. They listen to and read the lyrics for the song, Follow the Drinking Gourd, view the Reading Rainbow video, and write and illustrate their own story.
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Multimedia Storytelling
Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting their story in...
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Australian Aboriginal Art and Storytelling
Young explorers investigate Australian Aboriginal culture by listening to traditional Dreamtime stories and examining dot paintings created by Aboriginal artists. In addition, they locate the country on maps, discuss the geography of...
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Storytelling: Performance and Art Learning Center
Tenth graders explore the process of telling stories without words. In this literature lesson, 10th graders watch a music video performance made by Alaska Native students, and then examine art objects that may be used to tell a story,...
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Springfield Digital Storytelling Project #6: Grapes Commercial
Here is a fabulous lesson that should have your class very excited! They utilize the GRAPES formula in order to produce a commercial like ones we see on TV. Working in pairs, they must come up with a script, take video, provide music,...
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Explore your Culture through Storytelling
Explore the cultural heritage through of your class through reading, writing, and speaking exercises. They create illustrated mini-books that express their unique cultural and personal experiences. They share their stores with the class...
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We Are Unique - Yet Also Alike
How about four engaging lessons all related to bringing cultural awareness into the classroom through the arts? Sound tempting? Sixth graders will reflect on the art, storytelling, and music of various cultures, and how each transmits...
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Storytelling in the Classroom
What makes story telling special? Young readers demonstrate how to tell a story to others. Kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders read biographies of "Building Blocks" characters and tell a story about a character to their...
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Dancing the Colors of Birds
Students explore colors through storytelling and dance. For this visual arts lesson, students view the painting "Bird and Cornstalk Rug" and identify three colors. Students express how the colors make them feel through the rhythm of...
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Those Fabulous Fables
A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...
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Tradition through storytelling and music
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
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Music in West Africa
Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...
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Epic Improvisation
Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....
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It's All Part of the Story
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
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From Remus to Rap: A History in Theory and Practice of the African-American Storytelling Tradition
Pupils examine the specific form and function of tall tales and toasts.
They discover the importance of performance in the telling of a story and the importance of rhythm in the telling of toasts. They create stories of their own, in...
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West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan: West Virginia Music
Students compare and contrast music about West Virginia. In this West Virginia history lesson, students analyze popular music so that they may gain an understanding of the relationships between songs and history. Students then create...
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Culture Creation vs. Culture Consumption - Finding Voice Through Digital Storytelling
Ninth graders explore the power of media in culture and Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. In this nonviolence and media lesson, 9th graders analyze Gandhi's nonviolent methods for social change and discuss the media's power to create...
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Stories of the American Experience
Learners interview a veteren of any of the major U.S. wars. They must identify one quote from the veteren that sums up their experience.
August House
When Turtle Grew Feathers
Friendship is a valuable part of growing up. Learn about the importance of friendship with a variety of activities based on When Turtle Grew Feathers by Tim Tingle. Kids practice making musical instruments, discussing plot points,...
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Writing Lyrics
Pupils examine the themes and structure of a bluegrass song and identify the common themes in bluegrass music. They practice songwriting by rewriting the lyrics of "Oh! Susanna" as a bluegrass tune.
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Flamenco Music
Learners explore flamenco music through research into the lives and movements of the Gypsies of Andalusia. They adopted th music of Spain and added their own strong rhythmic sense and drama.
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Regional Landforms and Native People
Third graders study the Native American tribes of Maidu and Miwok by studying Internet artifacts, culture, language, music, storytelling, architecture, food, clothing, crafts and geology.